


small gestures and grand vows

by loosingletters



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: 5+1 Things, Courting Rituals, Dai Bendu (Star Wars), Declarations Of Love, Fix-It, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hurt/Comfort, Jedi Culture & Tradition (Star Wars), Lightsabers, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Marriage Traditions, Romance, because I deserve that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:54:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28001229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: marriage /ˈmarɪdʒ/noun1.	the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship2.	a combination or mixture of elements.Jedi don’t get married, a word like that could never describe what bonds them together.Or, five times Obi-Wan and Anakin show how devoted they are to each other, and one time somebody demands proof and they are insulted.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 54
Kudos: 594





	small gestures and grand vows

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so we were talking about Jedi marriage traditions so obviously I had to write one (in 3 hours. All of it. Yes.)  
> Credits to Aurora for the idea in 5. and MANY THANKS to my dear friend [obikinn ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/obikinn)  
> who beta read this!
> 
> also: SHOUT OUT FOR HAYDEN BEING IN THE KENOBI SHOW THIS IS THE WIN WE PREQUEL STANS DESERVE!

  1. **Jar’Kai**



Anakin had watched Obi-Wan perform Jar’Kai more times than he could count. Whenever he raised his blade, whether for training or for war, Anakin ultimately found himself drawn to him, committing every move to memory.

While fighting with two blades was not his Master’s preferred form, he executed it perfectly, painting stunning pictures with every tensed muscle. Each move was sharply calculated, Obi-Wan’s rigorous drive to excellence not allowing him a single misstep. He made a battle feel like a dance you desperately wanted to share with him, have him lead you to new heights.

They had taken to sparring with two blades more often since Ahsoka had decided to pick up a shoto and become even more of a terror on the battlefield. Grinning vividly, it was no surprise that Anakin’s troublesome padawan had decided she needed to begin training in a form so complicated, it took decades of dedicated exercise to truly master it. Most didn’t even dare attempt it before they had gotten settled and comfortable in a form with just one blade. 

Soresu was not a form that lent itself well to Jar’Kai. While it could be adapted to the two-blade form, its nature protested against it. Where Soresu was the incarnation of an insurmountable defense down to its core, even all of Jar’Kai’s basic defenses reminded Anakin of a snake in the grass, lying in wait and ready to strike. The Resilience form’s greatest strength was Jar’Kai’s greatest weakness. Their characteristics simply clashed, the overwhelming assault of one against the impenetrable barricade of the other.

And yet Obi-Wan managed to adjust his form to it. Using one blade to attack, the second to block all of Anakin’s oncoming strikes no matter how powerful, there was no way to deny that his Master was indeed the most skilled duelist in the Order.

“That twist you did at the end,” Anakin said after as they had separated again. “I’ve never seen that before. Can you do it again?”

Obi-Wan nodded and fell back into Soresu’s first stance, only to stop, lingering, _hesitating_.

“Anakin,” he said then, his voice soft, tinged not with agitation, the anticipation of the sun rising, but with a sudden awareness that put Anakin on edge. “I have been meaning to show you something. May I?”

“Of course,” Anakin replied and settled on the ground, cross-legged and waiting. Still, Obi-Wan didn’t start but instead frowned unhappily at the training lightsaber in his left hand.

“May I wield your lightsaber for this?” Obi-Wan continued. “I’d rather use a real blade for this than one of the training sabers.”

Anakin could more than understand that request. He was so used to wielding his own lightsaber or those of other members of his lineage that the basic training sabers they had in the training halls were annoying to handle. After reaching a certain mastery, they were more restrictive than enabling when attempting to further your studies. The sensation of moving with your lightsaber wasn’t the same. To Anakin, handling the training sabers didn’t feel as natural as using those with kyber crystals whose songs he knew by heart and could recite easily. But, beyond the struggle that came with those plain blades, Obi-Wan and Anakin were so familiar with each other, so intertwined, that Anakin felt like he could wield Obi-Wan’s lightsaber as well as his own and vice versa.

There was no need for adjustment; it simply fit.

“Of course,” Anakin replied and handed Obi-Wan his lightsaber without a second thought as he accepted the training saber in turn.

Obi-Wan didn’t need to check the blade’s balance as they had to check the training sabers for thirty minutes before they had been able to begin sparring. “Thank you, Anakin.”

Obi-Wan returned to the first kata, took a deep breath, and then he began to dance. Anakin didn’t know any other words that could possibly describe the way he moved. The Force cradled Obi-Wan like its beloved child, wrapping him in stardust, lights reflecting on waves crashing into the shore. The Force followed his every step; like a spring breeze, it guided him as his sequence shifted away from Soresu, going through every form, flowers blooming, fruits growing on trees to fall with leaves of sunset-colors, decay on frozen floors from which, once again, new sprouts grew.

Obi-Wan painted struggles with wide arcs, strikes that invited another to step in and hurt him. He was leaving so many openings in creating this masterful form that Anakin couldn’t correlate the skill he knew his Master possessed with that which he saw. Obi-Wan wasn’t one to make such mistakes unless—

Unless they were _deliberate_.

The invitation for another to join him, to complete the form. Anakin’s eyes widened as he watched Obi-Wan finish the exercise. The realization hit him at full force, took his breath away. Anakin couldn’t comprehend how it had taken him this long to understand what Obi-Wan was asking him. It was so clear when Obi-Wan ended his sequence on Djem So, the counterpart to his perfect defense. Wordlessly, Obi-Wan came to a halt in front of Anakin, kneeling and the lightsabers firm in his hands, breathing heavily.

Time seemed to have frozen, keeping the two of them in the moment that any change would break the spell on them.

“May I?”

Anakin was surprised how steady his voice sounded when he could hear the blood rushing through his ears, feel the adrenaline, and take notice of his heart beating quicker than it ever had before.

When Obi-Wan offered up the two lightsabers, keeping his silence, he only looked at Anakin with his storm-colored eyes, the gray and blue Anakin adored so much. When their fingers touched, Anakin almost couldn’t pull away, wanting to keep them there. It took all his willpower to take the lightsabers, both fitting so well in his hands.

Recalling the way Obi-Wan had begun, Anakin raised their lightsabers in his preferred form. Though he had paid close attention to it, he could never tear his eyes away from Obi-Wan, there was a difference between committing Obi-Wan in movement to his memory and the act of remembering and repeating the sequence he had displayed. Otherwise, Anakin would have taken even less time learning the various katas over the years.

Yet, when Anakin started, he knew that he was matching Obi-Wan strike for strike, leaving openings where he knew Obi-Wan would protect him, defending where he knew the other would need it. Step by step, the Force as his guide and as his witness, Anakin completed what his Master had started until he stood in front of him again, ending as Obi-Wan had started. Breathing heavily, he then fell into a kneeling position, right in front of Obi-Wan.

Anakin deactivated the lightsabers and, holding them in his hand, offered them up to Obi-Wan again. He leaned forward until his forehead touched Obi-Wan’s, knees touching.

The whole world faded into background noise, then; similar to the sensation of rainy skies clearing up, it vanished and left only them behind.

“I accept,” Anakin said so quietly, he wasn’t sure if he had said it out loud at all but shared it over their bond, in all the other thousand ways he told Obi-Wan, again and again, this delicate truth. “Will you trust me to do the same?”

“Always,” Obi-Wan replied in kind, his expression only then shifting to reveal that smile Anakin loved so much.

  1. **Lightsabers**



Obi-Wan had always enjoyed watching Anakin tinker with his lightsaber.

Anakin had never quite been capable of just leaving his lightsaber alone. While Obi-Wan had thought it was the typical youngling curiosity at first, he had learned better long ago. Anakin was always trying to make his lightsaber match himself to the best of his abilities and, given that Anakin was a storm that could hardly be contained on the best of days, he had to change his lightsaber quite often.

Sometimes those changes were minimal, a new scratch there, a notch in another corner, but Anakin would change more of his lightsaber after events that shook him considerably. He’d had to craft a completely new one after Geonosis, though Obi-Wan had been forced to do the same after witnessing the horror in that arena.

Anakin had changed his once more after they had gone to negotiate with Jabba, anger burning in him like a bonfire with the ashes rising high. As much as Obi-Wan trusted Anakin, in the aftermath of that mission, he hadn’t been sure whether that newfound change was because Anakin had been back on Tatooine or because of his green apprentice. However, given how the metal of Anakin’s hilt had changed to match that of Ahsoka’s, Obi-Wan dared to think it was the second option. It was also the reading he preferred. The thought that Anakin was still influenced by the memory of the planet that had caused him and his mother so much pain caused Obi-Wan too much grief.

Regardless of how large or minimal a change was, Obi-Wan took notice of each and every one of them. A Jedi’s blade reflected their life, their thoughts, all that they felt. Once, when he had been younger, he had gotten Quinlan to tell him what it was like to hold another’s lightsaber when you were so gifted in the art of psychometry.

“Indescribable,” Quinlan had said then. “You think you’re holding a whole life in your hands. It’s more precious than words can describe.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t pinpoint the time when he had started to understand what Quinlan had truly meant by that.

Perhaps it hadn’t been until he had held Anakin’s lightsaber and the crystal had hummed so similarly to his own that he had almost mistaken it. The two of them fit well together, so much sometimes that the degree to which Obi-Wan had dedicated himself to Anakin scared him. There was a reason Jedi, weapons of mass destruction in this war, had to be so careful with their hearts, and this was it. If you lost sight of yourself, chasing after another, you may lose your path altogether, and with Anakin it was so _easy_ to get lost.

Remaining on one level with Anakin was a challenge when he decided the world should change and more often than not it did just because he had willed it. The Force laughed and celebrated him, so willing to accommodate for him like it had never been before.

And yet, somehow, in the privacy of their rooms, being close to Anakin was as easy as breathing.

Their crystals laid on the table, split and cheering, for this was not a separation but a union.

Anakin had just finished the last of his modifications, a copper ring on the inside of his lightsaber that wasn’t visible from the outside but would help stabilize the hilt still. The thought made Obi-Wan smile since he had decided to match it with a gold engraving on his lightsaber’s inner walls.

“I’m done,” Anakin announced. “And you?”

“I am finished as well.”

Together, they reached for their crystals, two of them, perfectly matched though they were of a different color and shape. They inserted the crystals into the hilts of their blades and, once finished, looked at each other.

“I trust you with my life,” Obi-Wan said and handed Anakin his lightsaber, _his life_.

Quinlan had been right. That one word couldn’t possibly encompass all that he trusted Anakin with. His life, his heart, his mind. When he should be forced to kneel in the face of an adversary, he knew Anakin would be there to lift him up again.

Their lifespan was so short and it didn’t describe the endless ways in which Obi-Wan had dedicated himself to Anakin, loved him more than the world without ever thinking of ruining it for him. There was something entirely precious in holding someone’s soul, knowing it so intimately and still understanding the galaxy. If anything, Obi-Wan was only assured that knowing Anakin had made the skies above much brighter than they had ever been.

“I trust you with my life,” Anakin echoed and gave Obi-Wan his lightsaber.

Together, they ignited the blades. Unwavering blue illuminated them and a sweet melody rang out, that of the sun gently warming your face, waves nipping at your ankles, the very heart of peace and joy.

  1. **Alchaka Meditation**



Anakin couldn’t settle down. The horrors of the last mission, the last battlefield, still haunted him. No matter what he did, he couldn’t block out the screams, the shouts, the bloodshed, the begging, all that torment—

“Anakin?”

Anakin pulled his hands away from his eyes to see Obi-Wan looking at him in worry, reaching out with comfort in the Force. Obi-Wan’s warmth next to him was the only reason Anakin hadn’t woken up screaming as well. He seldomly found rest anymore. But here, in Obi-Wan’s arms, he could find a resemblance of quiet.

“I’m sorry,” Anakin whispered. His voice was hoarse from screaming on the battlefield all day, the tears he hadn’t been able to cry. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Obi-Wan frowned at him and sat up properly, the blanket falling off his shoulders, revealing his naked and bruised torso. The last battle had left its marks on Obi-Wan as well. And with how quickly they were running out of bacta, it was starting to leave scars as well. 

How Anakin wished to kiss them away, steal away Obi-Wan’s injuries and pain. They had to end this war as soon as possible if they didn’t want to lose even more of themselves to it.

“Anakin, dear one, please look at me.”

Anakin met Obi-Wan’s eyes again, found kindness and home again, something to focus on as everything else kept twisting.

“I want you to wake me up when you have a nightmare.”

“Obi-Wan—”

“Did I not promise to carry your burdens as well?”

Anakin winced at Obi-Wan’s sharp tone. “I know, but—”

“Then you will let me do this and care for you.”

Anakin stayed silent, then he leaned forward, not for a kiss, just to reassure himself that Obi-Wan was still there. He traced over Obi-Wan’s face with his fingers, memorizing how his skin felt beneath his touch, reminding himself that Obi-Wan wouldn’t leave him. He let out a low breath, tried to find his ground again on these turbulent waters and focus.

“It’s difficult,” Anakin admitted. “I feel like the galaxy is getting smaller by the second, walls closing in with no regard for those still seeking shelter inside. It’s just too loud and I don’t know how to turn it off. I know the Force wants me to listen, I can hear it crying, but it’s shouting at me from all sides. The only time I’m able to focus at all is when I’m with you.”

_When you’re holding me close, the only thing on my mind, chasing away everything else with sweet kisses, words of praise and your endless, ever-forgiving acceptance._

Obi-Wan studied him, then he shoved the blanket entirely off himself and got up. Anakin stared at Obi-Wan in confusion as he held out a hand. After a moment, Anakin took it and let Obi-Wan pull him up as well. Anakin was half tempted to grab their blanket and wrap it around himself to chase away the cold of the ship. It was one thing to lay underneath it half-undressed, but standing without their robes in the open was completely different.

“What are you doing?” Anakin asked.

“We,” Obi-Wan corrected him. “What are _we_ doing. And we are going to meditate.”

“Obi-Wan—” Anakin started to complain, because he had tried meditating in the past hours, had done just about everything he could think of, but nothing had settled his mind.

“Not your regular meditation,” Obi-Wan replied and invited Anakin into his mind with something far gentler than a kiss, poetry in colors of adoration, the way Anakin made him laugh, the deep pride he felt, the content of being in his presence. With their bond wide open, Anakin could see what Obi-Wan had in mind.

“That’s—you really?” Anakin didn’t know how to reply to that which Obi-Wan was offering.

“The Force wants to speak to you, so I will help you listen.”

“But alchaka…” Anakin ran his fingers through his hair. “Are you sure?”

Obi-Wan looked determined in all the ways Anakin didn’t feel. When he spoke, there was not the slightest hint of uncertainty. “We share a mind, a bond, a life. Let me share my peace with you as well.”

Anakin found strength in Obi-Wan’s reassurance, and he accepted Obi-Wan’s invitation with matching recklessness, throwing himself off a cliff into freefall, trusting Obi-Wan to catch him. He let Obi-Wan wrap him into his mind, act as an anchor to the onslaught of impressions, and finally guide him through them.

He felt disconnected from his body, watching Obi-Wan perform forms Anakin had only ever seen briefly before quickly averting his eyes. Alchaka meditation was private and intense. Obi-Wan didn’t practice it often, not usually needing to bring himself to the brink of exhaustion to reach equilibrium in the Force.

The deeper Obi-Wan sank into the Force, the more clarity did the universe gain for Anakin. Where before all he had heard was the terrifying disorganized orchestra, he could now follow the tunes of single instruments. A burden was lifted from Anakin’s shoulders as he followed Obi-Wan’s steps. He was Anakin’s own personal compass in the Force, disentangling knots and weaving new pathways.

And then, when Obi-Wan had crossed the line, gone further than any regular meditation would bring him, they ended at the edge of a dark void. They stared into the abyss where the Force was silent because, at its very core, it wanted to be _witnessed_ without having to say a word. With Obi-Wan by his side as the only sound, the only living soul submerged this deep down, Anakin fell asleep again.

  1. **Dedication Vows**



“What a mess we’ve gotten ourselves in,” Anakin said, nearly laughing as he ducked beneath another blaster bolt.

“We?” Obi-Wan echoed in disbelief.. “Oh, no, this was your plan. You suggested the frontal assault, This is _your_ fault.”

“It’s not—”

Another explosion went off and Obi-Wan only raised his brow at Anakin. The other Jedi at least had the decency to wince apologetically. “Okay, perhaps this is my fault. But hey, at least we managed to save the royal family?”

“And I’m _very_ sure the royal family will be very happy to know that the Separatists have decided to bomb their home in retribution.”

No, he shouldn’t be so negative. They had managed to save the family and bring them to a secure location. The family had been so thankful, they had guaranteed their support in the war, which was much more than they had initially hoped for. They would have been content to persuade them to consider non-involvement, but now the Republic could set up a new base in this sector.

“Any ideas?” Anakin asked, glancing over the piece of rubble offering them protection.

“Not at the moment, but if you give me a second—”

“Don’t have a second,” Anakin chimed in and jumped over their meager protection right into the fray of blaster bolts.

Eyes wide, Obi-Wan followed him. “Anakin!”

Together they deflected the blaster shots of the droids attacking them and made their way through the squadron, following this foolhardy plan that was no plan at all, more just pure luck and the Force exercising its goodwill.

And suddenly the Force screamed. Obi-Wan registered it perhaps a split second after Anakin, but it was enough for Anakin to turn towards him and tackle him out of the way as a land mine exploded where they had been standing just moments before.

The pain was so blinding that Obi-Wan lost consciousness, remembering not the fall, but the waking. The sun was still high up in the sky, only having changed its position a little bit, and still Obi-Wan thought that hours must have passed.

His ears were ringing with a high-pitched sound and his head _hurt_. He was pretty sure he had hit it on the rough stone path. When he touched the back of it, his hand came away wet and red and Obi-Wan was slow to realize that it was his blood.

“Anakin?” He hardly heard his own voice while shouting for his partner. Around them, the battle was still continuing, but they were not a part of it, Obi-Wan disoriented and Anakin lying on the ground, still, unmoving—

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan rushed to Anakin’s side, nausea overwhelming him from the sudden movement and the smell of burned flesh. Anakin’s back was a mess. It must have taken the brunt of the explosion. Where the fabric hadn’t burned off, it had melted onto his back, exposing charcoal flesh.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, shaking Anakin, trying to connect with his mind, hoping for any kind of response that wasn’t his absence.

“Anakin, _ankai’a_1, Anakin, please, _please_.” But there was no reaction. This couldn’t be it. _No, no, no_. “Anakai’a. _Brei nak epal enoah kawa pik fehl_ 2, _vii’yth_ 3, dear one, Anakin, _taweju_ 4!”

Obi-Wan thought he must be screaming, but Anakin wasn’t moving, wasn’t reaching out to him. Obi-Wan held him close, his mind _split_ , not inhabiting his body as much as it kept wandering out in the far wide universe until it found that slight spark that remained of Anakin Skywalker. When Obi-Wan found him, he held the candlelight that used to be a bonfire between his hands, sheltering it from the wind.

 _All that was dear to him,_ Obi-Wan had vowed. It was up to him to keep that promise. Those words weren’t spoken lightly, not without careful consideration, but right now there was nothing to consider, nothing but the fact that Obi-Wan was here and committing himself to Anakin.

When their troops came to pick them up, Anakin still wasn’t moving, but his chest was rising and his heart was beating in time with Obi-Wan’s.

  1. **Marriage Beads**



Anakin supposed he deserved the talking-to he had gotten from everyone after his last mission, though he’d like for it to be on record that he hadn’t actually set out to get life-threatening injuries or make Obi-Wan into his savior.

At the time, he had thought his actions were the ones with the best chance to succeed and do so quickly. He was still at least partially convinced that he had been right to act. He just wished the price hadn’t been so high. It was not just because of how angry Obi-Wan had been at him once the relief of his survival had worn off, the amount of guilt Ahsoka had installed in him had truly set a new bar by which he measured what actions were appropriate.

At the very least, one small mercy of this whole debacle was that Anakin had been ordered on medical leave until he recovered. His back still hurt, but he could lie on it now and sit upright instead of spending his days submerged in bacta or lying on his stomach.

Anakin definitely counted that as a win. If the war had taught him one thing, it was how to think positively even as everything crumbled to dust around him.

The time away from the front had given him the chance to settle some other things at least. In his absence from the temple, he had finally gotten the package he had honestly doubted would make it in the first place. He had written to his mother nearly over a year ago and given how pirate crews were running wild, it hadn’t been too difficult to imagine a package being lost or stolen.

Now that it had arrived, it was too late to use the japor wood for his original intention, but it could still be useful.

Under Vokara Che’s watchful eyes, Anakin was allowed to use his carving tools. She had checked his hands’ mobility and fine motor control skills three times before she had hesitantly granted him the use of his knives. He was fairly sure that if he had had two flesh hands, she would insisted on testing them a fourth time as well. And if taking away someone’s artificial limbs weren’t a crime on Coruscant, she might have stolen his arm too to keep him in his bed in the Healing Halls.

Anakin wanted to return to his own quarters, he had been forbidden from staying there on his own while Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were shipped out. He wished he could be with them, but he supposed he had nobody but himself to blame for being unable to follow them.

Sighing, Anakin returned to his work.

He had polished the japor wood, had cut it into tiny pieces until he had managed to make one that was small enough for his intentions. The white wood shined under the artificial lights of the healing halls. Anakin inspected his work and nodded. He was happy with the shape of the bead. Now the truly important part came: the carvings.

He kept his hand still as he made the first cut. He had done a couple hundred sketches of what he had wanted on the beads before, but nothing had come out looking good enough, so after another round of frustrating sketches, he had settled on freestyling it.

He thought of everything Obi-Wan reminded him of and just let his hands move, following the patterns. He wasn’t too surprised to find the symbol for protection woven into camellias, nor to see the sign for storm, or devotion, or the suns. The miniature sigils all blended together, the symbol for the Force weaving them together into one fine thread. By the time Anakin was done, hours had passed.

“And what do you think?” Anakin asked the Healer that had come to check on him.

The other Jedi took one look at Anakin’s handiwork, then shook their head with a fond smile. “You two are disgustingly cute.”

Anakin smiled back just as brightly. “I know right?”

Happy to have finished his work, he packed away his carving tools and put the bead in between the tools so he wouldn’t lose it. He wondered what Obi-Wan would think, where he’d put the bead should Anakin hand it to him. His hair wasn’t long enough to braid it in, but maybe he’d wear it as a necklace? Anakin flushed at the thought of seeing the bead roll between Obi-Wan’s collarbones.

So lost in thought, he hardly noticed when the door to his room opened and a familiar person stepped inside. Anakin was only pulled back into the real world when he heard the door close.

“Obi-Wan!” Anakin hurried to get out of bed, but Obi-Wan got to him quicker, corralling Anakin back into bed.

“Please, stay here, dear one,” Obi-Wan said. “the healers said you haven’t recovered completely yet.”

“They just don’t want me bothering anyone else in the temple,” Anakin replied.

Obi-Wan smiled at him, his expression so sweet that Anakin couldn’t help but to pull at his collar, tilting his head down for a kiss.

“I missed you, Master,” Anakin whispered against his lips.

“I missed you too, Anakin. And I actually have something for you. On our way back to Coruscant, Ahsoka and I made a short stop at Memoria to pick up rations. Do you remember it?”

Of course Anakin remembered it. The mission itself had sucked, but the planet had been beautiful, its people cultivating gardens that were larger than any he had seen before. Anakin had come home from that planet with about fifteen new plants to put up in their quarters. He had forced Obi-Wan to carry half of them and his master hadn’t complained once.

“Yes, why?”

Obi-Wan reached into his robes and pulled out a small dark leather pouch which he then handed it to Anakin. “This is for you.”

Eagerly, Anakin opened it. Inside, he found only one thing. Small and round, glinting golden with a small blue flower embedded in the glass, a bead.

“Forget-me-nots,” Obi-Wan elaborated, unnecessarily because Anakin knew exactly which flower they were, speaking perhaps only so that he could fill the silence. “The color reminded me of you.”

“You impossible man,” Anakin said and quickly reached into his bedside stand to take out the bead he had spent hours carving. “Attempting to give me one before ensuring I had one for you as well.”

Anakin gave Obi-Wan the small bead, who cradled it protectively between his fingers. “I figured you could wear it as a necklace if you don’t want to grow out your hair again.”

“Thank you, Anakin.” Obi-Wan picked up the pouch lying on Anakin’s lap and tugged one of the leather cords from it. He then strung the bead on it, the dark color only drawing further attention to it. Once he had succeeded, he put the cord around his neck and tied it so that it wouldn’t fall off again. Anakin watched as the bead lay innocently on Obi-Wan’s chest, the ivory color fitting him well.

“It suits you,” Anakin said with a dry throat.

“Do you want me to braid yours into your hair?” Obi-wan asked.

Anakin nodded wordlessly. With gentle fingers, Obi-Wan separated a strand of hair from the others and began braiding it. It was almost meditative, feeling Obi-Wan tug at his hair, bringing forth memories of his apprenticeship, though the type of braid was different. Finally, Obi-Wan threaded the bead into the strand of hair, leaving it gleaming and shining for everyone to see. Anakin tugged at it, content when it was secure.

“Think I’ll grow out my hair a little more,” Anakin mused, “Pull it all back in a ponytail.”

“Lest you get mistaken for a Padawan?” Obi-Wan teased him.

Anakin shot him a dirty look, but seeing Obi-Wan’s fond expression, he couldn’t manage to hold it for long.

“All this you promise me?” Anakin asked instead.

“All this and more,” Obi-Wan replied, then leaned in for another kiss Anakin was very motivated to indulge in. His hands shrugging off the dark robes Obi-Wan was wearing, Anakin lay back down and let bodies become what minds already were.

**+1**

Obi-Wan loved the temple, but he also adored travelling far into the outskirts of the Republic. He wanted to see the entire galaxy, to learn its secrets and all the wisdom it was ready to share.

But sometimes the galaxy tested his patience.

“But you _must_ get married,” the Senator they had been arguing with for the past five hours insisted, slamming his hands on the table as if that made him any more intimidating. He had been trying to block off negotiations for all the pettiest reasons that Obi-Wan could think off and this was only the latest.

Obi-Wan didn’t miss the war and he generally speaking didn’t consider himself to be someone inclined to violence, but he knew this discussion would end much quicker if he were allowed to just touch his lightsaber.

Anakin had already nodded off. While he still looked wide awake, quite interested in the discussion as well, Obi-Wan knew his partner’s mind had travelled far away, listening to one melody or another. Anakin had changed after Palpatine’s betrayal had come to light. He was still undoubtedly Anakin, burning brighter than anyone else, but the loss of a person he had thought he could trust had cut deep.

Obi-Wan’s eyes flicked at the single golden bead in Anakin’s hair. With the utmost charity he could measure up, he repeated his words.

“Senator, Jedi do not get married. It is against our Code, which I have told you about before and you are incredibly familiar with. Trust me when I say that the moment you get me or Master Skywalker to abandon our vows, we will not be discussing any legal matters with you. Now, would you please be so kind as to look at the contract again and check that all mandates are in order?”

He should have just told everyone no when they had asked him to lead the negotiations with the former separatist planets. Obi-Wan and Anakin deserved a break. Pretty much everything about their courting and bonding had already been a little unusual, but Obi-Wan had hoped that they could at least observe the traditional retreat and rekindle. They should have time to figure out what it meant that half your mind was no longer entirely your own but joined with another. Had their bond not already been so strong, complications could have occured from such a union. Besides that, Obi-Wan had looked forward to spending two weeks with only Anakin without another worry, relearning all that he already knew about him.

That would have to wait now.

The Senator huffed some more, though he had paled considerably after Obi-Wan’s words. Finally, after another hour, he had finished with his tantrum and signed the documents. As soon as his signature was on them, Obi-Wan snatched them up. They wouldn’t leave his sight until Anakin and Obi-Wan had left this planet. The two of them returned to their quarters with the hurry of men who didn’t want to be stopped for anything but the end of times. When they finally made it, Obi-Wan was glad to shut the door behind them.

“I don’t want to leave this room for anything but our flight back tomorrow,” Anakin announced.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and packed the documents away. “You didn’t even do that much taking.”

“I listened to you!”

“And did you pay attention or did you only listen to my voice?”

The way in which Anakin turned around and headed towards their small kitchen was telling. Obi-Wan settled comfortably at their kitchen table and watched as Anakin prepared their tea. When he smelled a familiar scent, he thought the troubles of the last hours had almost been worth it.

“Your favorite,” Anakin announced as he came back to the table, holding the teapot in one hand and two cups in another. “Freshly brewed and prepared just how you like it.”

“What would I do without you, Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked, though even just the hint of imagining pained him. To be without Anakin, to no longer feel him, not even in the Force, it was the worst thing he could imagine. Anakin would have to fall, or maybe Obi-Wan would, drowning in the cold depths of the Dark Side. If they hadn’t caught Palpatine—no, Obi-Wan couldn’t think like that.

“You’d make your tea on your own and probably get _married_ to someone because you wouldn’t have my lovely presence to distract you.”

Obi-Wan snorted. “Oh, yes, absolutely. I thought he had lost it when he suggested marriage to you just so we would be allowed to count as full citizens. It is insulting.”

“Mhm,” Anakin hummed in agreement. “Most planets would call our bond a marriage, though.”

“And they’d all be wrong,” Obi-Wan returned.

The thought of describing what they had as marriage, a state of being so fickle and _mortal,_ it was absurd. Obi-Wan couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be caught in such a bond. Though, perhaps bond was the wrong word for it, marriage describing legal bindings, political unions and financial securities.

“I love you.”

Obi-Wan looked up from his teacup to find Anakin’s eyes on him.

“I don’t say it often enough,” Anakin continued. “But I do love you.”

“You don’t need to say it at all,” Obi-Wan replied. “I know that you love me, and there are more than a thousand different ways in which you tell me. By remembering my favorite tea for example, and taking a moment to sit down with me and drink it. By showing me the world the way you see it with the Force reaching eternally, by intertwining your mind with mine. I don’t need you to say I love you, dear one. I can feel your love in that which allows me to breathe and live, that which ties the universe together. We are one in the Force, and I know your devotion. I don’t need anything more.”

And with that said, the suns shone warm on blooming meadows, cords weaved together and that which had always been supposed to be one, was, forever until the universe sung its last hymn and was reborn.

**Author's Note:**

>   1. soulmate, heartsong [ ▲ ]
>   2. all that is sweet/dear to me [ ▲ ]
>   3. Love [as in the term of endearment: my love] [ ▲ ]
>   4. please [ ▲ ]
> 

> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> 1\. Jar'Kai: courting/announcing your intentions and accepting it  
> 2\. Lightsabers: Well, your lightsaber is your life, and you are sharing your life now  
> 3\. [Alchaka meditation](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Alchaka)  
> 4\. Dedication vows: I can't help tossing in my conlang. The vows, _all that are dear to me_ , are meant to be spoken calmly and when you're alone, not like _this_ but it's Anakin and Obi-Wan so  
> 5\. Marriage Beads: Given that beads and braiding have such an important meaning, it makes sense they'd have something like it as well  
> +1: Historically, marriages are, in most cultures, seen as business or political arrangements, and that's a thing in Star Wars as well. To Jedi, comparing their bonds, which are so deep, to marriages is deeply offenses.
> 
> I'd love to hear what you all think!


End file.
